Maureen Cameron-Guest Blogger A Sunday Walk in Chivarabal

Monday, January 28th, 2013 at 2:46 pm

There’s a night bird that starts to sing around 10pm for awhile, then again in the morning. Tonight it accompanies the full moon lighting the surrounding hillsides. It’s been a great Sunday kind of day at the finca. The workers were on a day off, the TV crew mostly away until later today and the Somos team doing their own thing including various jobs until the afternoon. Denis started the day cooking breakfast for us all, then swept the dirt floors at Tortuga as a guft fir Heather and Greg for their return from Antigua, Derek adnutted to being obsessed with his bathroom tiling job, I focused on cleaning out the bodega shelving and preparing tonight’s supper and doing laundry, Corey added to his tan on the patio of Conejo, and helping out on various tasks including sanding, Gaby was dog caretaker and all of us on dish washing, playing cribbage (a daily task!) cleaning, compost emptying, skyping or phoning friends and family, drinking Mynor’s coffee (the caterer for the TV crew) practicing spanish and sitting in the sun. A light breeze has made the day truly lovely with blue skies and occasional clouds, but the heat of the sun became pretty intense. The dogs know when to stop playing and can be seen prostrate in the dirt, models of ‘chill out time”.

Corey, Derek and myself went for a walk to Chivarabal just up the road. Good thing we took our cameras, as we were hailed wholeheartedly by one large family from up a street inviting us to come closer and eager to have their pictures taken, talk to us and who made us feel so welcome. That continued all along the dirt road winding into the hills, as we passed the groupings of dwellings people would or appear in doorways; adults and chidren who followed us, giggled and warmed our hearts with their shy but eager attention. Being on foot and meeting people one on one, I was deeply touched by the obvious poverty evident in the living conditions that I’d been seeing since coming here, with few belongings, makeshift buildings, rickety wooden fences and structures, concrete block and galvanized roofing for walls. Yet impoverished is not a word I would use for how they live and the spirit of most of the people we’ve met., The brightness and color of their clothes, their ready smiles and responsiveness as we attempted to communicate, the reality of how hard they work each day to sustain themselves in this environment is humbling. We seem to be a curiosity for them, this is not an area that a lot of visitors would walk about in and they were a heart warming experience for us.

Trucks roar by with people hanging on in the back going home from church, chicken buses and vans all honk a greeting and a standard ‘buenos tardes’ in passing. People zoom along the uneven dirt road on bicycles, our eyes delight in the ever present brightly colored laundry strung on rooftops and in courtyards, and we are aware of the smoke and smell of cooking fires from ineffective stoves. Now stripped dried corn stalks lining the roadside fields rattle in the wind, we see drying corn cobs in yards and in the fields, an occasional bird call pierces the air, roosters crow, dogs bark, we catch strains of music and singing from the churches in various parts of this town and from somewhere in the hills. All this in a backdrop of distant volcanos, steep curving hills, ravines and valleys with bushes and trees, patchwork patterns of cleared corn and bean fields or fresh growth of a new crop. It’s an artists delight with the bright green contrast of the yucca like plants marking the boundaries between the now browning land parcels. The hot sun beats down, I feel an awkwardness in greeting a hardworking man in his small yard and house as we walk by with cameras and feeling aware of our privileged leisure.

Guatemala has many faces. Here in the Western Highlands with these traditional people I feel at home somehow. I know I cannot even begin to understand the politics of poverty here, the history of cultural oppression or the intricacies of the modern world meeting this reality, but I know what I feel when I’m around people who don’t seem to define how they meet each day and their lives by what they own. People who reach out, respond, tease, play and laugh, do what needs to be done and are so generous in spirit.

I’m aware that I might be romanticizing what I’m experiencing, and I don’t want to do that. Being here even for these three months is something I will never forget. The challenges are many for Project Somos on so many levels, taking on innovating, enhancing and providing resources in the midst of this complexity is no small task. But it seems to be being perceived as a good thing. An elderly woman Marianna was sitting with a pan on the side of the road smiling as we passed. We exchanged greetings and names and when I said I was a volunteer with Gregorio and Alicia at Somos, (the finca) she held my hand, looked me in the eye and thanked me. What do I make of such a thing except to be grateful that somehow I’m here and that all is well in this crazy world wherever we are and willing to meet each other in our humanness and spirit which endures beyond the comings and goings of our fortunes.Maur

6 Responses

I was just flooded with memories of my trip to Guatemala last January. The gift of kindness was bestowed upon us from evreyone we approached, too. I still smile when I see the pictures and I can hear the kids giggles whenever I said, “Buenos Dias, or Tardes” to the cool teens! We’ll never know our impact of our visit, except to know that our generosity was unconditional and lovingly given.

Hi Maureen,
So happy to hear of the amazing experience you are having.You write beautifully. My son Jonathan worked on a project in Central America helping people to build more efficient,safe stoves. I commend you for doing this and hope you enjoy the balance of your time there.
Love,
Eileen

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The Project Somos Village is an eco-sustainable alternative community for at-risk mothers and children

The Village has family homes and an organic farm within the small Kaqchikel community of Chivarabal in the Central Highlands of Guatemala.

Project Somos believes that a child’s best chance for success comes from being raised by their own family in a stable supportive environment.

As an orphan prevention program, the Village supports widowed and single mothers who are at-risk of losing their children due to poverty and difficult living situations.

Project Somos offers a home, education and vocational training to help mothers provide opportunities and a new beginning for their children.

Project Somos offers a stable, loving environment for women and children to heal and start their lives over again.

Project Somos educates mothers and children in nutrition, hygiene, organic gardening and offers opportunities to learn the skills and self-confidence to prepare them to return to their communities and live independent lives.

Project Somos works to reunite mothers with their children that have been removed and put into care.

Project Somos partners with other NGOs to provide services and housing for mothers and children so that they can return to their communities and live safer, healthier lives.

Vocational training offer the mothers a practical opportunity to earn and provide for their families on a long-term basis.

Social Enterprises are established to provide long-term financial sustainability within the Village. While living in the Village, the mothers contribute to the running of these enterprises.

The Village works hand in hand with the local Guatemalan community and other NGOs on the ground.

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